In a diesel engine, combustion of the diesel fuel is carried out by means of self-ignition of a heterogeneous air/fuel mixture. In the event of incomplete combustion, particles are formed as a result of oxygen deficiency. The particles primarily comprise carbon (soot), sulfates and incompletely combusted hydrocarbons (HC). Diesel particulate filters for filtering out such particles are known from the prior art.
When a diesel particulate filter is used, exhaust backpressure generally rises as filter loading increases. Since the engine manufacturer does not allow the permissible exhaust backpressure to be exceeded and maintenance consisting of the filter being emptied by the customer is not desirable, passive or active regeneration of the filter is imperative.
Active diesel particulate filter systems are considered to comprise “electrical regeneration systems” or “burner-supported systems”, which are actively triggered either manually or by means of an open-loop or closed-loop control unit on the basis of monitoring of the exhaust backpressure.
A system for regeneration of a diesel particulate filter is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,075.